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because it’s the right thing to do

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There is something so *Right* about family traditions.

Every family has its own web of traditions that is uniquely their own. No one really knows how they start but we all think that ours are the best and *most* unique and relish in the annual opportunity to drag them out, dust them off and use them as the foundation of our festivities.

Cranberry Molded Salad is such a tradition for my family. It seems a really common sort of tradition when you first look at it, but when you remember that no two families ever make their cranberry salads alike, it becomes something reminiscent of the ancient clans of Scotland with their intricate family tartans. You bind yourself to your family’s recipe with a fierce and nearly blind loyalty – nothing will EVER taste as good as what you had growing up. It’s a bit of an unspoken rule we whisper to our babies on their first Thanksgivings, cementing the truth that this is the Only Legitimate Cranberry Salad on Earth, accept no substitutes.

I’ve been at family gatherings where a tart jelly is served in a ridged roll, slid from out of a can. It’s tradition for them and their mouths water at the sight of it’s crimson self, quivering and glistening in the holiday lighting. I’ve seen it made with jello and chopped carrots and even marshmallows, I’ve seen it scoop-able and pour-able and even non-existent.

Every year I can remember, I have eaten my mother’s cranberry molded salad at Thanksgiving – not really a relish, definitely not a sauce but absolutely the perfect foil to the rich line up of foods that tradition orders on that holiday. We never vary, we never waver, we never subtract or substitute. There must be cranberry molded salad, we must all have a hand in making it and it must be eaten almost as an after thought. We eat it with seconds and for days thereafter in sandwiches and with leftovers. It is the last dish to be scraped clean, after we have been thoroughly saturated with Thanksgiving goodness.

Every year, without fail, my mother says something to the effect of, “Why don’t we ever make this any other time of the year, we like it so much…” and every year we all wonder for a minute about what would happen if one of our holiday foods were to escape and wander into July or March and we realize that it would be Wrong. We eat cranberry molded salad at Thanksgiving. It’s our tradition and it’s a good one. Let’s not tamper with it.

 

The Best Cranberry Molded Salad Ever

2 bags fresh cranberries, washed

2 whole oranges, washed

4 apples, cored

4 packages unflavored gelatin

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup cold water

1 cup boiled water

1/4 cup lime juice

 

This makes enough to feed a small army.

We like *our* recipe because it’s actually rather healthy for you. The fruits aren’t cooked and that means they are still in possession of their enzymes, making it the perfect thing to finish that incredibly filling meal with. That’s why we eat it last. Aha.

In a food processor, you are going to grind the cranberries, apples and oranges ( skin and all, folks!) together then dump the whole lot into a big mixing bowl. In a small bowl, add the cold water to your gelatin and let it soften. Stir the sugar into the ground fruit *well*  and add the lime juice. Once the gelatin is soft, add the boiled water and dissolve completely. Add this to the fruit blend and stir again. Cover and put in the fridge to ‘set’. This can be made a day or more in advance, it will keep quite nicely!

I’m not sharing this recipe with the suggestion that anyone should try it in lieu of their own, perhaps this could be your Fourth of July side dish and it will see other parts of the year, something it never would be able to do in our house.

At any rate, enjoy your festivities this week – eat heartily and be at peace!

 

Bear Chili

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They told me bear meat tastes like People – I didn’t want to ask how they knew.

My rugged hunter man went off into the woods and shot himself a decent-sized he-bear. When he came and announced the news to me I thought, “What are we going to do with all that meat?”

I’ve heard that it is a tough, sweet, oily sort of meat, not exactly everything we’ve come to love about good old Black Angus!  But, being the types to embrace adventure – culinary or otherwise – I decided to do my best to cook it into some edible form and Alex promised to eat it with an open mind.

From the various hunters and other adventurous cooks I interviewed, I realized that bear is not a distasteful meat, just a misunderstood and often poorly prepared one. It tends to be on the tough yet mild side and the fact that the animal itself lives all winter on hoarded stores of fat means that there can be quite a bit of grease, but that is easily pared off with a sharp knife, leaving you with less fat than most beef. It seems this meat wants to be spiced up and simmered long. I thought – “Chili!”

I used my crock pot and cooked the daylights out of it while I was at work and we ate it with homemade corn bread and a wild greens salad – a perfect, rustic, simple autumn meal.

Bear Chili

1 lbs lean bear meat, ground

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes plus 1 can water

4 oz cooked black beans

4 oz sweet corn (frozen or canned or fresh)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 onion, diced

2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less, depending on how hot you want your chili to be)

1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

 

The first thing is to fry up your onions, garlic and bear meat (*or* ground beef, since I suppose not everyone has a package of bear just sitting in their freezer, waiting to be used!)  Start with about a teaspoon of olive oil or butter in a hot frying pan, add your diced onions and minced garlic and cook them over medium heat until they are translucent and fragrant. Next, add the ground meat with a little water. I don’t like to add more fat to fry the meat with when a quarter cup of water will keep things from sticking just as well. Break the meat into small pieces while it is cooking. Once the meat is thoroughly browned, turn off the heat and set the pan aside.

If you are using a crock pot, now is the time to rescue it from its shelf or box. If you are going to cook your chili on the stove top, get out an eight or more quart stock pot with a thick bottom. Pour the tomatoes, water, corn, beans and spices into the cooking apparatus. If you are wondering about the cocoa powder, let me tell you – it does wonders for a chili! It does not make your meat taste chocolate-dipped, rather it adds a depth and darkness of flavor that is hard to beat. Simply trust me and add the cocoa.

Now, scoop in the meat mixture and turn on the heat! As I said before, I let the chili cook on high in my crockpot for several hours. If you are cooking on the stove, let it simmer on a lower heat for an hour or two, stirring occasionally so that nothing sticks to the bottom. If you need to, cover it up or add water by the cupful if it seems to be losing too much moisture. It does need to cook for some time so that all those lovely flavors get a chance to work together and make something fabulous.

It will be fabulous, let me assure you, whether you use beef, bear, moose, venison or even ground chicken. You don’t necessarily need to be a huntsman to enjoy the fruits of field and forest.  Enjoy!

 

 

dessert for the dessert-challenged

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Desserts are not my specialty. Whenever I am asked to bring one to a gathering or dinner, my heart chokes on a beat a little. My favorite go-to recipe for dessert has been apple crisp or, *gasp*, boxed lemon meringue pie with a homemade cardboard crust and wilted meringue. I do brownies and the occasional cookie – but that’s about it. I admit it –  I’m a dessert disaster waiting to happen to a friendly neighborhood gathering near you.

Add the fact that Alex and I, as well as most of our friends are trying to eat healthier – less sugar, less fat and less dessert in general and you have a first-class dessert emergency.  I need something sweet and satisfying that isn’t going to kill anyone – this removes ooey-gooey brownies from the line-up  and boxed lemon pie with my special crust (which unfortunately may prove to be slightly deadly on its own).

Well, I found an answer that is going to set me up for a while and keep me in good graces for many friendly dinners to come.

Fruit Cobbler. It’s ridiculously easy, quick to make up and doesn’t have enough sugar to throw one of Willy Wonka’s Oompa Loompas into a coma (heaven forbid). I made it the other night to bring to a friend’s house and it was quickly consumed – always a good sign – and there were enough pleasant noises being made to satisfy my wonderings about its success.

Suddenly Fruit Cobbler

makes enough to serve a dessert-crazed crowd of 10 or so.

for the fruit:

3 – 8ounce cans of peaches (I bought the kind that is packed in 100% juice with no added sugar)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/3 cup honey or maple syrup

for the cobble:

2 cups flour (you can use whole wheat or white or a mixture of both)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

4 Tablespoons butter

1 cup milk and 1/2 cup plain yogurt

I know, “You’re using CANNED fruit?”

Yes I am, because this dessert is a balance between *easy* and *healthy*. This recipe was developed in desperate times for desperate situations. It’s a weapon, folks. I’ll tell you what, popping open a couple of cans of sugar-free fruit just about ended the war on time-crunches.

Alright then – on to business. Lightly grease a 13×9 inch baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Open the cans of fruit and gently pour them – juice and all – into a bowl. I say ‘gently’ because I recklessly dumped them in and was showered in fruit juice. Yum.

Next, add your spices and honey or maple syrup and stir it all together. This gets poured into the baking dish and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into pieces and mix with a fork, pastry blender or your fingers so that it gets blended into the flour mix. This is always my favorite part for some reason, I love cutting in butter! Your flour mix will end up the consistency of slightly damp sand, holding together when squeezed, but falling apart as soon as you tap it. Pour in the milk and yogurt and stir it all together. You should have something akin to a very thick batter. This is going to be spooned onto the fruit, creating the biscuit top.

It’s baking time! Put that lovely dish in the oven and set the timer for 20-25 minutes. Depending on your oven, it might take a little more or less than that. It’s done when the biscuit crust is well-browned and cracked in the middle, showing just a bit of its fluffy inside. You can serve it warm, in bowls with a bit of the fruit ‘syrup’ spooned over top and a dollop of whipped cream, or it is just as tasty cool.

So – I guess if you invite us for dinner and ask me to bring dessert you know what you’ll get, but that’s ok because it tastes good and until I get my dessert-making down, believe me – you won’t miss the surprise!

Autumnal Pumpkin Cookies

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It’s ten o’clock at night and I should be sleeping. The morning will come quickly, I know, but I hear something outside. I hear Autumn coming. I don’t know if anyone else notices, but Fall sounds different at night than Summer. Its the leaves, I think, changing into their more festive outfits. I can hear them outside rustling and whispering and shivering in the chilly breeze and I can’t just roll over and go to sleep. Tomorrow I might wake up to find that the sound was really Summer fleeing from the cold days to come and all the trees have shed their green and blaze with Autumn color; there must be something that I, too can do to welcome the new season.

I quietly roll out of bed, careful not to wake my sleeping husband nestled deep in the quilts that have lately come out of storage, and head out to the kitchen in my pajamas.

It is cold in our dark apartment, but the windows remain open because I can’t bear to have them closed just yet. In the kitchen I can still hear the whisperings of the leaves outside while I gather up my baking supplies. The town is silent, I seem to be the only one awake in Brandon, accompanied by the small town mouse who lives beneath the cupboards. Flour, sugar, salt, spices and an egg – they all get lined up on the counter along with a big bowl and a wooden spoon. I turn on the oven and stand over it for a moment, warming my chilled fingers before I get started.

The trees are making Fall outside – I shall make it inside.

Is there a more Autumnal flavor than pumpkin? They are the choice fruit of fall adorning doorsteps, surrounded with brilliantly colored mums, and finding their way into kitchens, seasoned with cinnamon and brown sugar.

I am going to make Cake-Like Pumpkin Cookies, a slight variation of a recipe I found earlier on in the year and tucked away for such a night as this. In the morning, the mountains will greet us with dew-covered leaves in various states of Autumn dress and  I will see to it that the house is filled with the scents and tastes of Fall.

Cake Like Pumpkin Cookies

makes 2 – 2 1/2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. You might want to use a mixer for this, either a stand or hand one will do. If you are doing it by hand, use a whisk and mix until the sugars and butter are completely blended and sightly ‘fluffy’ looking. Add the pumpkin puree and stir, then add the egg and stir again until everything is mixed well. Add the vanilla, spices and salt, stirring so that they are completely incorporated. Now add the flour and oatmeal and blend thoroughly. There should be no dry spots in the dough. Don’t over mix it, however, and make your cookies tough!

Get out two baking sheets and grease them lightly then drop the cookies onto the trays. They won’t expand much in baking but you don’t want them to be touching. Once you have them placed on the trays they can head into the oven for 8-10 minutes. They will be a little brown around the edges and slightly firm to the touch. Remove them from the trays and let them rest on a rack until completely cool before storing.

I think the best way to have them is while they are still slightly warm, with a glass of milk or a mug of hot tea.

Welcome Autumn!

The Ugly Mugwump Rises…

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Button Cowl in Fern

Howdy… just thought I would pop in and share with you beautiful people some of the knitterly stuff I’ve been working on for the Ol’ Shop.

Blue-Eyed Cowl

Button Cowl in Rose

Single Button Cowl in Honeyed-Oat

The Ugly Cowl

Gnomie Hat

Gnomie Hat side view

Man Lace Scarf

My Fair Midshipman Scarf

Midshipman Scarf

I was even able to hunt down a real, live model who was willing to wear this stuff in 90 degree heat so I could take pictures of it. We love you, Allie.

And – because I so love you, dear blog friends, I am offering – for a limited time – a coupon discount for readers.  Use this super secret code, willcookforfood  in the next two months and receive 20% off your order from Ugly Mugwump Designs on Etsy.

Cool, huh?

Do good – stay warm.

Ugly Mugwump Designs on Etsy

Harvest Party

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It’s coming into harvest time, and what a time it is! Probably my favorite of the year… but I say that about every season, I think…

Our modest little garden has outdone itself and far outreached our meager expectations of it, we’ve had tomatoes like crazy as well as four good pickings of green beans, enough cucumbers to keep us on our toes and all the salad we could eat in earlier months. It’s been wonderful. We planted three types of tomatoes, one was an early producer with well mannered plants and petite, perfectly shaped fruit and the other two are monster heirloom varieties that sprawled everywhere and literally ate one of their unassuming pepper plant neighbors. They produced frighteningly large, misshapen tomatoes and several green peppers (not really, it only seemed like that because I waded into them the other day and recovered the consumed plant, finding that in spite of its interment with the Amazonian tomatoes, it still managed to pop out a couple of peppers… amazing.)

I feel it only fair to mention that Alex took the lovely, well-behaved ones under his gentle wing in the Spring and tied them up nicely and cared for them, thus creating a lush tomato paradise, while the feral heirlooms were my territory. No tying, no gentle wing, just wild, uninhibited growth. One of us is a real gardener, the other is something of a impatient seed scatterer. It will be fascinating to see what comes of our children….

We didn’t grow any zucchini this year, I was banking on the fact that come August, everyone has zucchini in abundance and I would be able to get some for little or no money. I was right! A friend of ours donated three HUGE zucchini to our harvest cause and I was able to freeze seven quarts of shredded zucchini one morning. There is no room for anything else in our apartment-sized fridge freezer, but by golly – we’ll have zucchini coming out our ears till May.

I’ve made nearly two gallons of fresh garden salsa- all from our own tomatoes and peppers and ruined a huge pot of would-be spaghetti sauce, please don’t ask how – it was tragic and I haven’t really forgiven myself yet. Here me now – I will never, ever, ever, ever, EVER, ever again use identical containers to store salt and sugar. I will not forget to label said containers. I will not automatically assume that I have the right container and continue to add the WRONG thing to my sauce, ending with a salty, inedible MESS. Never. EVER. The End.

It’s been grand and we are so thankful to Alex’s mom for giving us her beautiful garden boxes, to our Landlord for letting us hog his tiny yard, and most of all to our Lord, who sent the rain and sun and gave the increase. Praise God from whom ALL blessing flow… Amen.

Peach Pie Pancakes

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I have only ever been truly convinced that I was going to die a handful of times in my crazy life, and one of the most vibrant in my memory involves peaches.

It was back in Ohio in late August and my mom and I were preparing peaches to can. It was my task to peel the fruit and not wanting to waste even the tiniest bit of succulence, I got the brilliant idea to eat the peels from a couple of them. I was utterly absorbed in my work and when it was all said and done I had unwittingly eaten the peels from every single one of a bushel of peaches. Aren’t you impressed? When I realized what I had done I dropped the slippery paring knife and looked at my mom in horror. What happens when a person overdoses on peaches? Would I have a sugar rush? Would I be poisoned by peach fuzz?

I am happy to report that other than having a slight stomach disturbance (which was totally worth it, by the way) I was just fine. We canned the skinless peaches, I wrote an overly-corny peach inspired poem and all was well with the world.

Several years later and it’s peach season in Vermont. Driving down Route 7, I can feel my mouth getting excited as I read sign after sign, “Peaches are Here!” “Ripe Peaches” and “Sweet Peaches for Sale”. It’s a wonderful thing how a tree made of wood can take a springtime flower and turn it into something so decadent come August. A peach is nothing short of a round, fuzzy miracle, and I love them so.

I stopped at the local market this week and bought a few large peaches and then turned them into peach pie pancakes, a slight re-imagining of the classic peach pie. Peach pie filling turns into a tasty topping for hearty yet fluffy pancakes made with oat flour and brown sugar, two of the main ingredients in a streusel pie topping.  They’re a little more involved than your ordinary ‘every other Monday’ pancake, but very worth it. It’s a good way to spread the peach goodness out as far as possible – without having to eat a bushel of skins!

Peach Pie Pancakes

*makes 8 cakes

 

For the Pancakes:

1 cup uncooked old fashioned rolled oats

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons oil or melted butter

1 1/4 cups milk

 

 

For the Topping:

2 cups thinly sliced fresh peaches

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1 1/2 Tablespoons honey (or sweetener of your choice)

 

The first thing is to make oat flour. This is done by putting the rolled oats into a food processor or a blender and pulverizing them into a coarse powder. 1 cup of rolled oats will yield about 3/4 cup of oat flour. Blend all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs and then add the milk and oil. Mix together and then add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring thoroughly but gently – over mixing the batter will result in tough pancakes.

Next step is to make the topping. Put the peaches and other ingredients into a small soup pot on the stove over medium heat. Stir often, this is going to simmer while the pancakes cook.

I fried the cakes over medium-high heat, pouring them out using a 1/3 cup measure. The pancakes are ready to flip when there are bubbles forming in the center of the cake, and the edges appear to be dry . They will need to cook about 2-3 minutes per side, depending on the heat under them.

When the cakes are all cooked up, the topping should be done! I love it when a meal comes together. Serve these with a tall glass of milk and you have a breakfast (or brunch or dinner!) worthy of the fruit that inspired it.

Enjoy!

I’m Falling for Ten

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It’s almost September, you crazy people! Summer is almost over and I want to run through our not-so-crowded streets sounding the alarm. We need to soak it up Now- the heat – the swimming- the watermelon -

Do All The Summer Things While You Still Can!

And then again, we are getting all sorts of scandalously awesome Autumnal things in at work which has made me go gushy over Fall. I love Fall.

But I love Summer too. And I hate being cold. But I love sweaters. Sweaters are warm and you can’t be warm and cozy in the summer – that’s a Fall thing.

Welcome to my life as a human being who borders on having a multiple personality disorder when it comes to the seasons. I love all the seasons; I love to see them come and I love to see them go, always ready to move on to the next one. I would never survive in a place with no seasons.

 

10 Things I am Looking Forward to About Fall

1) Big Sweaters – because I love them. There is something infinitely attractive to me about being cozy and shapeless at the same time. My wardrobe is rather disproportionately made up of sweaters.

2) Bonfires – because who is crazy enough to go sit by a roaring blaze when it’s 900 degrees out and you’re under attack by a demonic squad of mosquitoes and other hideous summer bugs. Yeah, that’s what I thought.

3) Fall means it’s almost Christmas! (Not really, but kind of)

4) Thanksgiving – my favorite holiday forever and for always.

5) Leaf-peeping tourists. I love a good tourist! Last year I had my picture taken several times as a quaint ‘local’ – how fun is that? Where else can I, a random stranger, be considered a part of some British person’s vacation memories than in Vermont in Fall? And I love the accents, and the clueless driving (although it’s kind of dangerous) and the tour busses full of smartly dressed elderly people from Georgia who can’t understand the way Yankees talk…

6) My body tells me that it’s time to start eating heartier foods so that we can build up enough fat to survive the coming winter. Silly body, we don’t *need* to do that anymore – but let’s anyway, shall we?

7) Warm weather foods! Yay shepherd’s pie and beef stew and hot cocoa and pies. I don’t want to see another salad until May. I’m going to go bake scones and have some tea… ILOVESCONES.

8) Did I mention warm clothes? I talked about sweaters, but I really love all cold-weather clothing. I like being all covered up and warm.

9) The colors. The colors. The colors. I must say, the mountains have their own sort of fireworks display and it’s put on by the trees – the fall foliage is incredible. No wonder people from all over the world come here to see them.

10) Those gray, raw days when it rains and the streets are covered in leaves and everything feels pensive and a little bit sad and so you huddle up inside and drink tea and knit and listen to your favorite music or watch a good period drama. I love that.

Are you looking forward to Autumn? Why or why not?

second random: in deference to Irene

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Yes, I have received my second wind of Random Tidings, and they are all for you. Another post with no food, no witty sayings (I know, you’re still waiting for the wit to appear in the first place, I’m sorry) and no ridiculously sappy stories about my husband. Ok, maybe just *one* sappy story- please? It’s just you and me, random reader, and the night to fill. I’ve dug through my photo files and found a handful of pictures that I took while wandering downtown after hurricane Irene…..

Guarding main street.

 Waiting to cross the road that isn’t really there anymore.

This is the neighborhood cat, named Folgers. Yes, like the coffee….

 Because this is Vermont after all, heaven forbid we have hippies using the *front* door… Good thing it’s just a joke!

Work crews, firefighters and spectators the day after…

Our little pizza shop looks like it’s trying to get a head-start in a race against the other buildings! The creek that runs beneath the town swelled over its bounds and came up *over* the town, taking the pizza shop with it.

A better shot of the House of Pizza in it’s ‘new location’.

 Mud Everywhere, Everywhere, Every Where.

 The diner right in the heart of town that barely missed being swept away. I got  a job here a week or so after taking this picture!

 Make-shift relief centers opened spontaneously hours after the storm had died down. It was amazing.

I love this, “in deference to Irene”…..

We all did a lot of things in deference to that storm after it blew through our state and nearly tore it apart. It’s amazing to think that even in all the wreck and ruin, so many good things came out of it. It was incredible to see the way our little town came out and began to rebuild the day after. I met some really neat people while volunteering downtown, ended up with a pretty cool job and one might even say started a chain of events that would end with me marrying a really wonderful guy just months later. Ok, that was the sappy part- I’m done now.

Thanks for reading! More random ramblings to come…

A

New Items in the Shop

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As promised, there are some new items in the shop! * And this is just the beginning, folks!*

It’s time for cooler weather- at least here in Vermont, and my mind is trying to reacquaint itself with the idea of *snow* and *below freezing temperatures*. It’s been a little hard for me to plan winter projects during weather which lends itself to suntans and barbeques, but as the breezes have chilled and the nights glisten in undecided frost, I have been able to actually think in terms of wool and warmth.

I’ve added some pairs of fingerless gloves, as well as two absolutely gorgeous pillows that my Mom designed and created using second-hand wool sweaters and appliques. I love how autumnal they are, and so cozy! Makes me want to curl up with a cup of hot cider and read a good book of old poems.

The Chunky Rustic Mug Sweaters are back in stock thanks to some long nights of knitting :-) and I am working on several new designs to be introduced in the next couple of weeks!

Alright- I must run!

Take Care, don’t forget to go slow and use the good soap ;-p

- Ann